Sam - clearly the bravest - he was devoted to Frodo (and the Quest) Bilbo - The Quest of Erebor would have been a massive failure without him Merry & Pippin - Although brave, they were importantly warriors of Rohan and Gondor Frodo - Although the main character and the only one who really knew what had to be done, I wouldn't class it has "brave".

Of course, it's hard to quantify the level of bravery. At the end of the day, they were all brave, and each one showed this at some point in their respective story.

For me i have always found Frodo to be brave. He carried a burden the others could not and knew what was waiting for him a little more than the others and so this requires courage to carry on even though you know you're enemy.

Sam is also brave but i consider his best quality or overriding quality to be his loyalty rather than his bravery.

Bilbo - began with little bravery but as the journey went on he grew into a brave hobbit and the adventure just wouldnt have been anywhere near completed if it wasnt for him, also it took bravery to sneak out with the arkenstone and face Smaug by himself.

For me Merry and Pippin are the least brave. I still consider them brave as i think all the hobbits listed are - they set off from Crickhollow and didnt turn back so thats brave but they didnt really know the burden Frodo was carrying or the burden Sam had in looking after Frodo. But they did fight in the great battles and then lead the resistance during the scouring of the Shire.

For me its almost a tie between Frodo, Sam and Bilbo for first but here is my rankings.

He pretty much knew he was doomed when he said I will take the Ring, etc. Even before that his bravery showed itself on several occasions. He was the sacrificial lamb and he was ok with that. This is true even though he "failed" in the end to fight off the Ring's effect.

Sam. For all he did for Frodo and the Quest. Defeated Shelob by himself. Samwise the Brave. Not as accomplished as Frodo bc it was Frodo's burden most of the time and Frodo's choice, and sacrifice.

Bilbo. He was scared at first but he got past that as needed. He faced the Dragon by himself. He rebelled against Thorin all by himself. Etc.

Merry and Pippin. Still very brave but somebody had to come last. Pippin killed a troll by himself, and resisted interrogation by Sauron himself. Merry helped kill WK and survived the black breath. Not as accomplished as the first three. To each other they net equal in bravery. A bag is like a hole that you can carry with you.

Frodo was the Ring-Bearer, and there's no way he could have done what he did without tremendous courage. After a certain point, he knew he was doomed and kept on anyway. Sam I would rank second, because of his courage in helping Frodo.

I'm not sure how to rank Merry or Pippin or Bilbo. All discovered their courage in unlikely and unexpected situations. It's especially strange to compare Bilbo to Merry and Pippin, when Bilbo's courage was shown in *The Hobbit,* very different circumstances than the War of the Ring. "Yes, but what about SECOND breakfast?"